I've been underwater

Meredith, L., and myself attended a spectacular election day party on Tuesday--complete with fireworks. Lots of cheers. Lots of high-fives. We drank champagne.

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My students were amped for the election. During small groups workshop, I told them that the youngest person should be the first reader. As I was walking around the room hearing their ages, I realized that for a number of them, this was the first election where they could actually vote. A handful of my students who reside in different counties missed the Tuesday class because they were voting.

Boy, it was hard to keep them focused in class.

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While I feel relieved and elated that Barack Obama won the election, I'm incensed at the passage of Proposition 8. My sister-in-law and her spouse plan on being a part of the litigation frenzy that will happen and I absolutely will support them both monetarily and spiritually.

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GLAAD and Asian Pacific Islander Outreach:

GLAAD Works with No on Prop 8 for Asian Pacific Islander Outreach

GLAAD has been working closely with the No on Prop 8 campaign to share its messages of marriage equality and fairness with people from all across the state including communities of color. GLAAD and the No on Prop 8 campaign collaborated to conceptualize and produce print, radio and television advertisements reaching Asian Pacific Islander communities across the state. The ads in Chinese, Korean, Filipino, Vietnamese and Japanese feature prominent Asian American leaders including California State Controller John Chiang, Board of Equalization Chair Judy Chu and Rev. Dae Jung of the First Congregational Church. Both Chinese and Korean advertisements were created to counter false claims about marriage for same-sex couples impacting schools and churches.

GLAAD also recently partnered with Chinese for Affirmative Action and the Asian Pacific American Legal Center of Southern California to secure media coverage for their joint press conferences in Los Angeles and San Francisco on why Asian Americans should vote no on the unfair ballot initiative. High-profile Asian American public officials, community leaders and celebrities spoke out at the event including actors George Takei and John Cho, Survivor: Cooks Island winner Yul Kwon, journalist and scholar Helen Zia, Board of Equalization Chair Judy Chu, and California State Controller John Chiang.

George Takei***

Check out Overturnprop8.com. It may be slow because I know it's been receiving heavy traffic lately.